Quantitative research, according to the slides by Tero Mamia, is "based around the idea that social phenomena can be quantified, measured, and expressed numerically." This is in contrast to qualitative research that is more focused on coding not based upon hard numbers and statistics. Whereas qualitative research "aims at understanding" and answers primarily the question of "how", quantitative research "aims at (causal) explanation) and primarily answers the question of "why". Both methods, according to Mamia, can aim at a description of social reality, and can be complementary rather than contradictory as they take different paths on research and perspectives for the same question.
Mamia also laid out an outline of the quantitative method. It's useful to know that the overall method is "based on the idea that social phenomena can be quantified, measured, and expressed numerically." The information gained can be expressed in numeric terms and thus analyzed by statistical methods, or even be classified into numeric variables.
Quantitative Research, like most other research methods, comes with its own strengths and weaknesses. On the side of strengths, it does allow research of structures and processes not direclty observable, it is well suited for quantitative description and comparisons, and works well for description of change as well as analysis and explanation of causal dependencies between phenomena.
The weaknesses to be considered are ones arguably inherent to anything depending on raw numbers. It can potentially simplify or "compress" the complex reality and thus make it somewhat constrained. It's only applicable for things that can be measured or quantified, and presumes the necessary knowledge to ask "correct" questions. Not only that, but quantitative research makes it difficult to study processes or "dynamic" phenomenon, creating a static view of reality, and makes it harder to catch onto the intentions and meanings when an actor's perspectives are described.
The would be researcher also needs to bear research in mind as dialogue between theory and empirical observations. Theory will direct observation, and provide a framework for the research. This leads into the planning of the research, which includes selection of the theme or topic, getting familiar with any previous research, selecting a theoretical approach, specifying the research problem, and planning the empirical research process through research design. Research design would include elements such descriptions, the time dimension involved, target population, method of data collection such as sampling representative groups via surveys and observation, and so on. On top of these considerations and arguably most importantly, the researcher must remember to never do harm to their participants, ensure informed consent and anonymity, and thus earn the confidence of the participants.
References
Mamia, Tero "Quantitative Research Methods" https://erau.blackboard.com/bbcswebdav/institution/Worldwide_Online/MSLD%20500/msld_500_quant_research_methods_lecture1_tero_mamia.pdf
Accessed 14 July 2012
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